


Venus Flytrap

by Frosty_sun



Series: Dad Schlatt series [1]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Dad Schlatt, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, No Romance, No Smut, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-13 05:15:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 16,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29646324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Frosty_sun/pseuds/Frosty_sun
Summary: Toby is just a teen trying to survive in the big city of New York with his father and no means of keeping himself busy while school’s out and Schlatt is at work seemingly constantly. Away from home or in a business call, Toby feels like Schlatt is always concerned with anything other than watching his son grow up, but soon Toby decides to take his fate into his own hands when things somehow get even worse. Toby, or Tubbo, as he titles himself, manages to get in contact with someone else, someone his age who lives across the ocean, in the UK. One thing leads to another, and Tubbo hatches a plan based off of devious behavior and a sticky home life. He just hopes that things don’t get worse.
Relationships: Alexis | Quackity & Jschlatt, Alexis | Quackity & Jschlatt & Toby Smith | Tubbo, Jschlatt & Toby Smith | Tubbo, No Romantic Relationship(s), Toby Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit, Wilbur Soot & Technoblade & TommyInnit & Phil Watson
Series: Dad Schlatt series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2202690
Comments: 41
Kudos: 183
Collections: Completed stories I've read





	1. Bees

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is a work of fiction and is based on the creators’ internet personas. This is NOT about the real people, so don’t go after them for anything that may occur in this fic.

  
_“Toby, where are you?” Schlatt called out happily, but he was beginning to worry. He and his son were in the midst of a game of hide and seek, but this time, Toby had outdone himself with his hiding place, and Schlatt had been searching for his toddler for nearly ten minutes now. Then, from behind him, a small yell. “Rawrr!” The kid exclaimed, small hands outstretched. Schlatt grinned and feigned terror. “Ohh noo!” He exaggerated, dropping onto his knees on the floor, and his son leapt at him, clutching onto the front of his shirt while the two burst into fits of laughter—_

———

“Toby!” Someone barked, and Toby snapped to attention, brushing brown bangs out of his eyes as he looked over at his father, sitting across from him at the dinner table. “Yes, sir?” He asked, looking down at Schlatt’s folded hands instead of his eyes, which looked down at him with minor annoyance. “You were zoning out. Pay attention.” Schlatt stated rather bitterly, like the act of sitting in the same room as his child was asking too much of him. Toby nodded. “Yes, sir..” He said softly, returning his attention to the paper, his report card, on the table between the two. 

“You’re doing well in school. I appreciate that. Good job.” Schlatt said, patting the table in front of the boy, and Toby perked right up, beaming at the praise, as it wasn’t often that Schlatt complimented him. “Thank you!” He said as he worked up the nerve to make eye contact. There was a glint of pride in Schlatt’s eyes, and Toby felt even more pleased with himself. But then something started ringing. 

Schlatt’s expression hardened and he stood, picking his phone out of his pocket as he walked out of the room. Soon, his voice could be heard from the next room over. Toby sighed. Of course the moment couldn’t last. It never did. 

The brunet picked up his card from the table and looked at it, eyes skimming over the collection of A’s that were printed on the paper. Nothing but the best was to expected of the Schlatts, right? He put it back on the table, near his seat, and then picked his backpack up from the floor where he’d sat it when Schlatt had called him to the table when he’d gotten home, and he walked to his room. 

Toby’s room was as luxurious as the rest of the apartment; big, shiny floorboards, fancy wallpaper, big closet, but it felt way too big for the sixteen year old. He set his backpack down by the end of his bed and walked over to the window. Toby pulled his curtains aside and looked out over New York, the tall buildings looking back at him. Cars and people bustled in the streets far below, and in the distance, Toby could see Schlatt’s workplace, a tall skyscraper that supported nothing but offices. 

Toby didn’t see the appeal of being shut inside at a desk all day, every day, but to his father, there was nothing better in the entire world. Oh, how he treasured his job. Toby was sure that if Schlatt had to chose between being fired or being given the boats, an old torture method he’d learned about in school, Schlatt would rather submit himself to be coated in honey and milk, tied to a boat and be eaten alive in a swamp somewhere than to have to search for a different job. Honestly, it made Toby depressed. 

They’d grown up close, but as soon as Schlatt had landed that office job, everything had changed. Long hours that led to Toby being switched from babysitter to babysitter until he was ten, Toby spending the long, lonely days by himself when he wasn’t in school, Toby learning how to cook and care for himself at age twelve, and now Toby being stuck doing all of the chores; shopping for himself, making food for both him and his father, and barely ever having company outside of the distant sounds of Schlatt talking in business calls or car horns honking from below. 

Toby sat down on his bed, plush mattress dipping under his weight, as he thought about what he’d do now that school was out for the summer. Maybe he’d go to Central Park and try to make a friend or two, or maybe he’d go there just to watch the bees. Bees. Toby had always loved bees. One of his first memories was his father bringing home a little fluffy bee keychain for him, and despite how dour things were now, the memory always made the boy smile. Because it reminded him of a simpler time when it was just him and Schlatt. Him and Schlatt, together forever, or so it seemed. 

Now, he leaned down and plucked the keychain, worn and falling apart from years of love, off of his backpack. He held the little plush between his fingers and felt its softness. Toby then closed his eyes and pressed it to his face. If he tried hard enough, he could imagine that it still smelled like the store from which his dad had bought it, along with the scent of the sticky caramels that he’d been eating earlier that day and the faintest hint of cigarettes, likely from a smoke that Schlatt had squeezed in while he was away from his son. 

Toby rubbed his fingers against the dirtied fabric and held the thing in his palm. When he was a child, it had taken two hands to hold it, but now he’d grown so much that the little yellow and black bee was just a tad bit smaller than his one palm. He smiled sadly and set it on his bedside table, where it couldn’t get lost or more damaged from being attached to his backpack, which would now be kept in the closet until autumn, when the leaves turned brown and school started again. 

Toby lay back on his bed, staring up at his pale ceiling, and pulled his socks off. He was bored, like usual, except the fact that it was summer made everything ten times worse. Nowhere to go while Schlatt was at work. Nothing to do since he didn’t have any friends. Well, at least he had his phone, even though he didn’t dare do anything on it since he sometimes caught himself fretting about Schlatt snooping through the device. Toby tisked to himself and rolled onto his side. 

He supposed things weren’t _too_ bad. Schlatt and him would sometimes do fun, father-son things on the weekends if he wasn’t at work, like play games or get ice cream or, occasionally, go to a movie, so Toby had  _ something _ to look forwards too, even if the brunet had grown more and more distant from his father the older he got. Toby sighed through his nose as Schlatt’s voice carried through the wall. Sounded like he was arguing with someone, which wasn’t uncommon. Toby sighed. At least things couldn’t get any worse...


	2. Pride

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toby receives some surprising but upsetting news.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reminder that the characters are based purely on the creators’ internet personas, so don’t go after them for anything that they might do or say in this fic. 
> 
> Thank you.

  
Toby woke up at 5:30 am with his father. The sound of his alarm carried faintly through the house, and Toby, over the years, had trained himself to pick up even the faintest sounds. He just lay in his bed, keeping his eyes closed, as Schlatt clattered around in the apartment. Next, Toby knew from years of experience, he would take a shower, spend an absurd amount of time in the bathroom, and then come out into the kitchen, make coffee, and then he would be off. The whole thing took maybe an hour and a half.

At some point in time, Toby had fallen back asleep, and when he woke again, the apartment was quiet outside of the usual noise from the streets. The sun was shining through his curtains, and with a groan, the brunet sat up, running a hand through his hair as he blinked sleep from his eyes.

Toby pushed his blankets back and stood, walking over to his closet so he could dig through his clothes for an outfit for the day. Something comfortable, maybe. Eventually he settled on a green button up and black jeans, and he got changed before exiting his room and heading to the kitchen. 

There was still some coffee left in the pot, and Toby plugged the machine into the wall and sat down at the table while he waited for it to heat up again, the sound of air blowing through the vents keeping him from feeling like he was suffocating in silence. After a couple minutes, Toby stood and returned to the coffee pot. He pulled a mug out of the cabinet that said ‘#1 dad’ and he cringed, but took it anyways. 

After Toby poured himself some coffee, he set the mug down on the counter and opened the fridge to see what they had and what he needed to go buy. Thankfully, it looked like they were set for the next few days, and so he grabbed an egg carton and closed the fridge door with satisfaction. Toby removed two eggs from their containment and set them on the counter, making sure they wouldn’t roll away before he went back into the fridge and put the carton away before grabbing the milk. 

Making eggs in the morning was a part of Toby’s routine, as it was the first thing he’d learned how to cook, and eggs were quick and easy if you knew what you were doing. Getting a pan from the cupboard, turning the heat on, melting a square of butter in the pan, scrambling the eggs with a bit of milk, waiting until it was hot enough that water dropped on the pan sizzled and then pouring the eggs into the pan. It was all set into Toby’s skull, and he knew how to make ‘the perfect eggs’ like he knew the back of his hand. 

When his food was done, Toby sat down at his table and stared out of the nearest window while he ate, slowly scooping eggs into his mouth to occupy himself for as long as he possibly could before the boredom sunk in. Like usual, they were perfect. Fluffy and buttery, but not overwhelmingly so. 

Toby pondered over what he would do today besides chores. It looked sunny out, but he didn’t feel like going outside mainly because he knew that some of his neighbors would be out and about and he didn’t want to talk to them, especially because they always complimented his father for his achievements. “How’s your dad doing at work?” and “You’re lucky to have such a successful father.” were things that Toby was far too used to hearing. 

The brunet sighed and leaned back in his chair, something Schlatt would tell him not to do because it was ‘unprofessional’, but Schlatt wasn’t here right now, so Toby could do whatever he so very pleased. He supposed that if he wanted to go outside, Toby could walk out onto their balcony, but in the end he would still be confined to this big but lonely apartment like a fly trapped in the mouth of a Venus flytrap. Toby was the fly, and Schlatt, this building, this entire city, was the carnivorous plant, holding him hostage to be eaten alive. 

Toby sighed again and stood up, grabbing his dishes and walking over to the sink. He set them, and the other dishes that had been placed in the sink, on the counter so he could fill the basin with water. The apartment hadn’t come with a dishwasher and Schlatt hadn’t cared to buy one, so often, Toby was stuck hand washing everything, which he didn’t really mind as long as things didn’t pile up for too long. 

Toby hummed to himself as he washed the dishes, setting them in the opposite side of the sink to be rinsed before he put them in the drying rack. When he was done, which was fairly quickly, as this time, the chore hadn’t taken more than five minutes, he dried his hands. Then, he walked to his room, deciding to do the laundry while he was up. 

Toby collected his own laundry and stuffed it into a basket before walking to the ‘laundry room’ which was just the hallway that the washing machine and drier sat in. Toby shoved the load into the machine and then picked up the now empty basket and walked back into the main area of the apartment. He set the thing down and then walked to Schlatt’s room, opening the door just a little bit to peak inside, something he’d probably get murdered for, but it was part of his routine to make sure the house remained clean. 

Seeing nothing out of place among the overdone luxury of Schlatt’s room, Toby silently closed the door and returned to the washing machine and started it up, waiting to make sure everything was working fine before he walked out into his living room area and plopped down on the couch, kicking his feet up on the coffee table, another thing that would gain displeased half-glares from Schlatt, but once again, Toby assured himself that Schlatt wasn’t here and therefore couldn’t know. 

Toby checked his phone. 2:46 pm. No more than two hours had passed since he’d woken up, and it would be at least four more hours until Schlatt came home, at the earliest. Toby set his phone down and snuggled further into the couch, planning to take a nap to pass time, but then a small commotion came from the other side of Toby’s apartment door, and he scowled, upset with this loudness, but then the loudness  _ entered _ his apartment. 

Toby shot to his feet as two men sauntered into his home, slung across each other like they were glued together. Only when Toby saw that these two boisterous intruders were his father and another familiar face did he calm down, heart still pounding, however. “Ah! Toby!” Schlatt called out excitedly, a hint of surprise and maybe.. nervousness? hidden in his loud voice. 

Schlatt had one arm wrapped around the other’s shoulders, and the other man, Toby now realized to be Schlatt’s best friend and coworker, Alex, had his own arm slung around Schlatt’s neck. Both were grinning like they’d won the lottery. “Tobyy!” Alex exclaimed, and he let go of Schlatt to walk over to the teen. He held out a hand, and Toby took it, flinching when he was suddenly pulled into a violent hug. “How’ve you been, man?” Alex questioned. “Good..” Toby murmured around Alex’s shirt, and the man let him go. 

Now separated, Toby studied Alex. He’d never personally met him or interacted with him much, but he knew that Alex was both wealthy and lucky, like Schlatt, and the two evened each other out, Schlatt being the collected one who took the role of the leader, and Alex being the goofball that made anyone and everyone smile with silly remarks and jokes. From his appearance, the boy was obviously fresh out of high school, around eighteen or nineteen, and it was a miracle (as Schlatt had stated once) that he’d been able to land a job in one of New York’s most successful companies at such a young age. 

He had a mop of disheveled but still somehow neat black hair that was usually hidden under a dark colored beanie, and Toby admired nearly everything about him: His success, his charisma, his social skills. Anything and everything about the man made Toby want to be him, or at least follow in his footsteps up until the ‘office job’ part. 

“It’s nice to properly meet you, _amigo.”_ Alex stated warmly, and Toby grinned back at him, absolutely adoring this man’s energy. But of course, Schlatt interrupted the moment. He coughed to clear his throat, drawing the attention of the two boys, and he held up a bottle of wine suggestively. “Alex, can you put this in the fridge for me?” He asked, and Toby felt a flare of jealousy at how soft Schlatt’s tone was. He missed that voice being directed at him. “And Toby, my boy.” Schlatt then said as Alex snatched the bottle and walked out of sight. 

Toby looked to his father, wondering what could possibly have caused him to come home this early, and with Alex, no less “I’ve great news.” Toby perked up. Shorter hours. Shorter hours. Maybe he’d finally be home more...

“I’ve been promoted to CEO, baby, WHOO!” Schlatt cried out, more to himself than to either boy. Toby felt his heart drop. He said nothing. That meant.... That meant that he’d have  _ more _ work. And more work meant more time at the office. It meant more calls. It meant more time that Toby would be alone in this god forsaken apartment. 

That was the first time that Toby truly thought that he hated his father. He hated him for abandoning him, for leaving him to grow up by himself, for tossing away their old life, where Toby felt Schlatt actually cared. Cared about him and about their relationship more than money. 

He could hear Alex and Schlatt talking excitedly, but their voices were muffled, fading into background noise as Toby stood there, frozen like a statue as he struggled to absorb this new, horrible but amazing information. He was proud of his father, the person that raised him, but he wasn’t proud of the money-driven man that he was becoming. No, Toby thought that it would take a miracle for him to be proud of that man. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapters, I’m trying not to fit too much stuff into one chapter since it would get wayy too long and wayy too boring.


	3. Tubbo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toby and Alex spend some time together and Toby is introduced to something that seems very promising...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAHAHA NOT ME FORGETTING THAT QUACKITY IS NOW 20–  
> ANYWAYS—

  
When Toby woke the next morning, it was to the soft sound of rain pattering against his window. It was Saturday, and the sky was gray and cloudy, unleashing its fat tears down onto the city, making everything look even more dull and creating puddles across the road and sidewalk. The house was quiet, which was unusual because normally Schlatt would be talking on the phone already, so Toby assumed that he was gone. He got up, staying in his pajamas because it was just that kind of day, and he walked out of his room.

The house was silent apart from the usual air blowing through the vents, and so Toby, feeling dejected, shuffled to the kitchen, but before he got there, something, or someone, sitting on his couch startled him, and he flinched back with a small squeal. The man on the couch jumped too, a hand flying up to his uncovered black hair. “Toby! Fuck, you scared me!” He gasped, and Toby sighed with relief. “Sorry Mr. Alexis, I thought you were an intruder.” Toby apologized, and Alex waved a hand dismissively. “Ah— call me Alex, please.” He said, and Toby nodded. 

“So.. why are you here?” Toby then asked, and Alex scooted over to make room for Toby on the sofa, who walked over and sat next to the twenty year old. “J’ said I could spend the night. He wouldn’t want me telling you this but—“ he leaned in close to whisper in Toby’s ear. “—we got a  _ bit _ drunk last night and didn’t get to sleep until maybe one in the morning. He’s way more hungover than me and I’m pretty sure he’s passed out in his bed.” Alex explained, and Toby nodded with a small, “Ohhh.” 

Then, he realized what Alex had said. “Hang on, J’?” He questioned with disbelief. Alex chuckled. “He hates when I call him that but I think it’s funny.” He said with a grin, and Toby let out a small giggle. “Don’t you have work stuff?” Toby then asked, and Alex couldn’t help himself. He let out a loud, curt, bark of a laugh. “Hell no! It’s Saturday baby, I’m not working today.” 

Toby didn’t reply. Instead, he wondered how on earth his father and this man got along as well as they did. Schlatt, the powerful, work-driven man who never joked around, and this energetic, boisterous boy. Almost opposites, but they got along like they were an old couple that had known each other since childhood. 

“Hey.” Alex then started. He now seemed awkward, and Toby listened patiently. “Wanna go get ice cream or something?” He asked, and Toby let out a laugh. “Mr- Alex, it’s  _ raining!” _ Alex flushed, not replying, and Toby could see him chewing the inside of his lip. Toby put a hand on his shoulder. “Thank you though,” he said with a grin. “And that sounds real nice.” 

Not even ten minutes later, the two were walking out onto the sidewalk, huddled together under Toby’s umbrella and listening to the rain hitting the plastic roof. There weren’t many people out at all, so Alex and Toby could walk without worry of bumping into anyone. 

Soon, Alex had led them to a nearby Dairy Queen, and he opened the door for Toby, who hurried inside, Alex following shortly after him. The two got in line behind one other person, who did a double take as he noticed Toby, who looked down, watching Alex out of the corner of his eyes. He looked a little bit nervous, and his dark eyes were flicking around wildly. Toby couldn’t help but notice that he looked like a caged animal. “Alex?” He asked. “Are you okay?” 

“What? Oh—! Yeah, sorry, Toby, I— I’m fine.” He sputtered, reaching up to rub the back of his neck. Toby was a little suspicious, but he let it go, brushing it off as normal nerves. Alex ordered for them, and after that, he seemed back to normal. Alex then told Toby to go get a table while he waited for their food, and Toby nodded before walking off. 

The brunet sat down at a booth a couple tables away from the other family that was in the restaurant, and a moment later Alex arrived with their ice cream. Toby had gotten a sundae, and Alex just had a cup of vanilla ice cream. The two sat in silence for a moment, and then Toby giggled. “Ice cream for breakfast, this is great. Thank you.” He said jokingly, and Alex groaned. “God, I’m sorry, I should have asked if you’d actually eaten anything yet.” 

Now, Toby let out a loud laugh, attracting the attention of the family at the other occupied table. “It’s fine, Alex!” He said. “I haven’t actually had this much fun in a long time....” Alex smiled sadly, saying nothing. He wanted to apologize for Schlatt’s behavior, but he didn’t dare speak for his boss, as he had other things to worry about. 

While he ate, Toby watched Alex, who was looking at his phone. His notification sounds were on, but they were turned down, and at least ten times every other second, a small  _ ding _ could be heard coming from the device. “Alex?” Toby questioned, and the older man looked up. “What keeps making noise? You famous or something?” Toby joked, but to his surprise, Alex blushed and nodded. “Heh, yeah I actually kind of am, I suppose.. you ever heard of Twitch?” 

“Twitch? No. What’s that?” 

Quackity beamed, eager to spread his wisdom to the child. “It’s an app, or website, where you can livestream games and shit.” Toby cocked his head to the side, interested. “Oh? What kind of games do you play?” He asked, and Alex told him, “Minecraft. And hey, I actually know someone who I think you might get along with.” 

“Oh, really?” Toby asked dubiously. “Yeah,” Alex replied, oblivious to Toby’s tone. “His name’s Tommy and he’s your age. He’s still small but man, he’s great.” Toby raised an eyebrow. “And by small, you mean..?” 

“Not a lot of viewers compared to people like me. Averages around 300 at the moment, but he’s going places, I know it.” Alex explained, and Toby, intrigued, found himself leaning across the table. “Wow,” he breathed out. “How many viewers do you have then?” Alex smirked slightly tipped his phone towards Toby, showing him a dark screen with purple accents. “QuackityHQ” it said in big white letters. “Quackity..?” Toby muttered, and Alex pulled his phone away. “It’s nothing, something I made up when I was younger, but hey, check me out if you want.” Toby nodded, not needing more information, and pulled his phone out. 

Silently, he went to the App Store and searched the app. When it came up, he downloaded it and then turned his phone off again, getting the feeling that Alex had just opened up a whole new world for him. 

———

When Toby returned home, Alex parted ways at the elevator and hurried off. Toby didn’t question his rush as he rode the elevator to the top floor, where he lived. Toby pushed his door open and walked in to find Schlatt laying down, asleep he assumed, on the couch, a very foreign sight to the sixteen year old. 

Quietly, Toby walked to his room and closed the door behind him. He turned on his phone and opened Twitch. First, he looked up the boy that Alex had told him about, TommyInnit, he was, and Toby found that the boy was actually live at the moment. He tapped on the video, and a screen popped up, telling him to sign up so he could chat or follow or subscribe if he wanted. Toby thought for a moment, wanting to type something that was a play on his name while not giving away his actual name. He thought back to when his father would call him “Toob” or sometimes “Toob-y” as a joke, and then it came to him. To Toby, it was perfect:

Tubbo.


	4. Tommy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toby meets some new people and discovers a way to keep himself from feeling lonesome.

  
“450 viewers, pog! Thank you so much, boys!” was the first thing that Toby heard when he loaded into Tommy’s stream. The boy was sat in a black swivel chair, and he was grinning, blond curls sticking out from underneath his headset. On his screen, Minecraft, a game that Toby soon learned to be a survival game that was made up in blocks. He was swiftly immersed in the stream, and Tommy’s laughter and snappy remarks made him smile. He’d have to thank Alex for telling him about this app.

The chat was moving pretty slow, and Toby would occasionally type something, just when Tommy needed confirmation that the stream could still hear him or something along those lines. There were times when Tommy fell upon something good, or at least something interesting, in the game, and Tubbo would join the collections of ‘pog!’s in the chat, even though he didn’t really know what it meant. 

At some point in time, Toby heard Schlatt get up and walk around, so he hurriedly turned his volume down, but then Schlatt left the apartment and Tubbo returned to the stream, for once not caring that he was home alone without getting so much as a goodbye. 

And then the stream was over. Toby had barely noticed the past hour and a half go by. As Tommy wrapped up his stream, Toby felt happy, but also lonely. After a bit of searching around through the app, Toby discovered how to private message Tommy. 

_ Tubbo: Hello Mr. Innit, I know you must get this a lot but I was just watching your stream, and I wanted to thank you for providing a distraction.  _

There was a moment where Toby hesitated, but then he sent the message, and then there was another moment before Tommy replied. 

_ TommyInnit: Thank you Tubbo. Yes, all of the ladies also thank me.  _

_ Tubbo: You get a lot of ladies, then? _

_ TommyInnit: Yes, I can’t go outside without them flocking to me.  _

Toby let out a laugh, and a grin remained on his face while he typed. 

_ Tubbo: You must be a very big man, then.  _

_ TommyInnit: Yes, they call me Big T.  _

_ TommyInnit: Hey Big Man, do you have Discord?  _

_ Tubbo: What’s Discord?? _

_ TommyInnit: Holy shit, what rock are you living under? _

_ Tubbo: The rock of living in NY without anything to do.  _

_ TommyInnit: Get Discord Big Man.  _

Toby could detect that disappointment through the phone, and so he practically flew to the App Store to search and download Discord. He told Tommy when it was downloaded, and the blond gave him his username. After he’d gotten it figured out, Tommy sent him a message. 

_ TommyInnit: TUBBO.  _

_ Tubbo: TOMMYINNIT _

_ TommyInnit: Can you tell me about yourself, Big Man? _

_ Tubbo: Not much to know, I live in NY but that’s about it. I don’t wanna give more information before I know you better.  _

_ TommyInnit: Understandable, Tubbo. _

_ TommyInnit: Hold on, dad’s calling me.  _

Toby waited patiently while Tommy allegedly talked to his dad, and a second later, he got a message from Tommy asking if it was okay to video chat. “Dad wants to make sure you’re not a pedo.” He’d said, and Toby had agreed, though nervously. 

Tommy called him, and Toby picked up, heart pounding in his chest. It loaded for a moment, and then the camera popped up, Tommy sitting in his chair with an older man standing behind him, looking into the camera with an intense look. He had straight blond hair that almost reached his shoulders and blue eyes, much like his son’s. His expression softened when he saw that Toby was, indeed, Tommy’s age, instead of a thirty year old man. 

Tommy grinned, and his father sighed with what Toby assumed was relief. “You’re Tubbo, right?” He asked, and he had an accent, much like Tommy. Toby hesitated for a moment, not used to his new title, but then he nodded. “Yes, sir!” He replied, and the man smiled. “You’re a polite one, aren’t you?” He asked teasingly but nicely. Toby flushed and nodded self consciously. “Yes, sir, I’m sorry, but what’s your name?” 

“It’s—“ The man started, but Tommy interrupted loudly, unable to keep quiet any longer. “Philza Minecraft!” He exclaimed, and Phil rolled his eyes. “Phil— it’s Phi—“

“Philza Minecraft!”

_ “Tommy!  _ Shut the hell up!” Phil exclaimed through laughter, and Tubbo joined in as Tommy too began cackling. “Phil Watson.” He explained once they’d calmed down. “Philza Minecraft.” Tommy mouthed, and Tubbo giggled. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Watson.” He said, and Phil chuckled softly. “It’s nice to meet you too, Tubbo, but please, call me Phil.”

Then, another voice came from the other end of the call, and Phil turned towards Tommy’s door. “What?” He called out, and Tommy groaned. The other person yelled something back, but Tubbo couldn’t hear. “I’ll be there in a sec, Wil’!” Phil shouted, and when Phil didn’t leave right away, the other voice hollered again, and Tommy shouted, “Wilbur, shut the fuck up!” 

There was a pause, and then footsteps approaching the room. The door was thrown open, and a brunet popped his head into the room, brows furrowed angrily. “Be quiet, child.” 

“You be quiet, dickhead!”

The brunet opened his mouth to reply, but then noticed Tubbo on the call. “Ooh, who’s this?” He chirped, walking forwards, previous issue forgotten as he shoved Tommy in his chair away, earning a yell of anger from the blond. “You the kid dad thought was an old man?” He asked, and Tubbo looked away, speechless, while Tommy started grumbling things under his breath. “Wilbur,” Phil started. “Let them talk, they’ve known each other for maybe twenty minutes.” 

Wilbur nodded and, to Tommy’s relief, left the room with Phil, leaving the two boys alone. “Your family seems.. interesting.” He stated, and Tommy scoffed. “Yeah, it’s never boring.” He replied. Tubbo’s expression darkened for a moment. “I wish my place was like that.” He said. “Why?” Tommy questioned. Tubbo sighed. “I just live with my dad, and he’s gone more than half the time.” He explained, and Tommy nodded. “That sucks, big man.” He said, and Tubbo smiled, the loneliness of the apartment not feeling as lonely anymore. 

———

Over the next couple weeks, Schlatt was at work even more, but Toby didn’t mind. He would talk to Tommy nearly every waking hour, and sometimes Alex would even come over and those two would go outside or enjoy each other’s company. 

Tommy and Tubbo became fast best friends, and soon Tubbo was introduced to the entire Watson family. Tommy, he knew and loved, and of course there was Phil, Tommy’s father, but then there was Wilbur, Tommy’s older brother, who was a musician. Tubbo soon learned that Wilbur had made and published multiple songs at only the ripe age of 17, and Tubbo was amazed by the amount of talent that he had. The brunet knew his way around a guitar like he’d been born playing the instrument, and he had swiftly become one of Tubbo’s idols. 

Tommy had one other older adopted brother too, one that Tubbo had only met recently, as he was very reserved. His name was Techno, and he had long hair dyed pink that he kept in a braid slung over his shoulder. He was around 22, and stayed at home to help Phil take care of things and to also help pay for bills, because although they could support themselves, they were just barely getting by, which Tubbo soon found out to be one of the main reasons why Tommy was streaming: To raise money to help the family. 

Tubbo got along with all of them wonderfully, and soon discovered that everyone in the family was fairly famous on some sort of platform. Phil streamed Minecraft, as did Techno (only occasionally however), and Wilbur published his music to a good number of sites. Tubbo also quickly got accustomed to their chaos, and Tommy taught him multiple things about Twitch streaming, Minecraft, and other games. 

When Alex, or Quackity, or sometimes Big Q, as Tommy called him, came up in a conversation, Tubbo went off, telling Tommy about how close they were and how much he looked up to him, and Tommy listened with interest, eager to learn more about his friend. 

Eventually, Tubbo began making appearances in Tommy’s streams, talking over Discord since he didn’t have a setup to play with him. As Tommy’s viewer count went up, the blond’s relationship with Tubbo grew stronger, and Tubbo seriously thought that things were finally starting to look up for him. He and Tommy had even made plans to move in together once Tubbo was eighteen. They’d made plans to go to conventions with their friends, and eventually Tubbo wanted to buy his own setup so he could play games with Tommy and many other people that he’d been introduced to through Tommy, the other Watsons, and Alex. 

But then shit started to hit the fan. It happened gradually at first, but after one or two days of things slowly getting worse, everything just collapsed all at once, because of course, nothing could ever remain good in this flytrap of a city. 


	5. Fear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toby receives some horrible news, things quickly begin to deteriorate, and Schlatt makes a discovery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE NOTE: This chapter contains possibly very dark themes such as:  
> \- Mentions of drug addiction  
> \- Implied drug addiction  
> \- Descriptions of aggressive arguments

  
One day, Schlatt came home early, and Toby had to hastily end his call with Tommy to avoid discovery. Schlatt was obviously in a very bad mood, and Toby nervously exited his bedroom. “Welcome home dad.” He smiled and said as warmly as he could manage. Schlatt grinned for a second, but then his face darkened. “Thanks, buddy.” He mumbled. 

“What’s wrong?” Toby asked, obviously seeing that there was a problem and automatically being worried for his father. Schlatt bit his lip. “Toby... I don’t want... I don’t want you hanging around Alex anymore, okay?” He said, and Toby was incredibly confused and worried. “Why? What happened?” He asked. Schlatt squeezed his eyes shut and slammed a hand onto the table, then leaned over it and hid his head beneath his hands, digging his fingers into his scalp. “I just don’t!” He shouted, and Toby flinched, backing away slightly. He didn’t dare move or speak. 

“I— I— I’m sorry, Toby, I—“ Schlatt stammered. Toby had never heard him sound more distressed. He was scared. Then, there was a soft knock on the door, and Schlatt jolted up straight, narrowed eyes moving to the door. “Toby,” he said far too calmly. “Go to your room.” 

Toby opened his mouth to protest, but a glare from Schlatt changed his mind, and he hustled to his bedroom, leaving the door open a tiny bit so he could peer out. 

There was a moment of silence, and then. “What the fuck are you doing here?” Toby stopped breathing. He’d never heard Schlatt speak like that before. He sounded furious, and he sounded dangerous. Someone else’s familiar voice came from the direction Schlatt was standing, but Toby couldn’t hear him clearly. He knew it was Alex, though. 

“Please, just—“

“Leave.” Schlatt interrupted darkly, and Toby desperately wished he could see. “Schlatt, please just hear me out!” 

“NO!” Toby flinched at his father’s booming voice. “I’ve heard everything I need to know! You think I wouldn’t find out?! I’m your _boss,_ for God’s sake!” Schlatt now sounded like he was about to cry. His voice was cracking, and Toby knew something was very wrong for Schlatt to be breaking down like this. He slowly pushed his head a little bit farther out of his room, and he spotted Schlatt standing in the doorway, most likely blocking Alex from entering the apartment. 

Alex was trying to look around Schlatt’s body, and as soon as he noticed Toby, he shoved past Schlatt into the apartment. He was definitely different, and not a good different. He was disheveled, shaky, and his eyes were red and puffy, like he’d been crying. “Toby—!” Schlatt cut him off by grabbing him by the collar of his shirt, and he choked as the frontside of the collar dug into his neck. “Get out of our house, Alex, please! I’ll—“

“I don’t need fucking help, I told you already!” Alex snarled, and Schlatt let out a growl of frustration. “Alex, you’re going to say that even after I find out that you’re an addict?!” Alex flinched at the word ‘addict’ and struggled to free himself from Schlatt’s grip. “I told you, it’s recreational!” He retorted weakly, writhing in Schlatt’s grip, his shirt coming untucked from his pants and adding to his disheveled appearance. 

“Then tell me why you’ve gotten arrested for having drugs in your system at least twice now! I’ve been lenient, but I’m not going to cover for you anymore!” At that, Toby retreated into his room, locking his door. He’d seen and heard enough. He didn’t know what was going on, and he was so confused. Confused and scared. Alex was an addict...? He didn’t want to believe it. Schlatt had never yelled before, that Toby had heard, but it was terrifying. By now, Alex was screaming too, and their two voices rose louder and louder to try and dominate the other. 

Toby grabbed his phone and scurried into the closet, pulling his knees up to his chest and curling in on himself. He could barely hear any distinguishable words, only the occasional swear. Everything else was a blur of incoherent shouts. With shaky hands, Toby turned his phone on and hastily dialed the police. 

“—your emergency?”

“H— huh?”

“What’s your emergency, sir?”

“U— um.. I— I don’t really know, my dad’s arguing with a co— coworker and I.. I don’t... I’m scared.” Toby sputtered, lip wobbling as he tried not to cry. He told the lady his name and address and hung up after he was assured that the police were on their way. Then, Tubbo called Tommy. 

“Hey, what’s up, Tubbo?” Tommy said cheerfully, but then the shouting got especially loud, and both Tubbo and Tommy could clearly hear Schlatt holler, “Alexis! You _need_ help, and you need to get the _fuck out of my house!”_ Tommy’s breath hitched, and his tone dropped. “Oh, Tubs, are you okay?” 

“I— I’m fine, I just don’t know what’s going on..” Tubbo whimpered, and Tommy hissed through his teeth. “I— is that a girlfriend?” He asked softly. Tubbo felt his heart stop beating, and now he broke down. “N— no!” He cried, running his free hand through his hair while tears trailed down his cheeks. “It— it’s Al— Alex.” Tommy knew who Tubbo meant, and he didn’t reply. For the first time since they’d started talking, he didn’t know how to reply, and that scared Tubbo even more than his father and Alex yelling at each other in the other room. 

Finally, after what seemed like hours of Tubbo sitting in the closet, holding himself and crying while Tommy tried to comfort him, the police arrived, and then the shouting finally died down, and Tubbo waited a minute before he walked out of the closet and his room to see Alex slumped over on the couch, crying into his hands while an officer stood near him, poised to counter anything he might think to try. Schlatt was standing and talking to another officer, but when he saw Toby, he stopped talking and rushed over to him, crouching down and silently hugging his son. “Ohh, Toby, I’m so sorry.” Toby, still on the phone with Tommy, said nothing. 

Then, Alex removed his head from his hands and looked over to the pair. “Toby!” He called out desperately, and Schlatt released his son. “You stay the hell away from my son, Alexis!” He growled, and a police officer placed a hand on his shoulder, whispering for him to calm down. 

After that, Alex was walked out of the apartment and out of sight, and Schlatt and Toby were sat on the couch so they could talk about the incident. Tubbo reluctantly hung up with Tommy, but he promised he’d fill him in later. “You must be Toby Schlatt.” An officer said, and Toby slowly nodded. “Thank you for calling us, that was very brave of you.” The lady told him, and he nodded again, not trusting himself to speak. Then, the attention was turned to Toby’s father. 

Schlatt sighed, and explained, not caring that Toby was sitting there, how he’d recently found out that, as Toby had heard previously, that Alex was in fact, a drug addict. “At first I didn’t think much of it, and I tried to get him into rehab, but he didn’t listen. I’ll admit, I should have been tougher on him, but... he’s my best friend...” Schlatt had said, and the officers wrote things down as he spoke. When he was done, the female officer sighed. “I wish I could say that we haven’t seen him before, it’s sad that he’s throwing his life away like that.” Toby absentmindedly nodded along, too shocked to say anything. 

In the end, Toby had learned the full story, and apparently Alex had been busted for recreationally doing coke. Schlatt had not wanted to get him in trouble in any way, so he’d attempted to get the man help, but he hadn’t paid any mind to the brunet’s warnings. This problem had swiftly evolved into an addiction, and Schlatt had potentially risked his job by not firing him for this. 

Now, Alex had been arrested, fired, and Schlatt had subtly threatened him with very minor things if he ever tried to contact Toby. Life sucked. And Toby felt a wave of hatred towards everything. He hated Schlatt for neglecting him, he hated Alex for abandoning him, he hated himself for allowing himself to be pushed around, and most of all, Tubbo hated Tommy for living so far away. 

When the police were gone, Schlatt left the apartment, grumbling something about needing a drink, and Toby went back to his room. He felt horrible. Horrible and alone. He didn’t even call Tommy. He heard his phone going off, but he didn’t have the strength to look at it, so he curled up and somehow, he fell asleep. 

———

After that, Toby grew distant. He only ever talked to Tommy. He waited until Schlatt was gone at work to come out of his room, where he would do chores almost religiously, vacuuming every other day, sweeping the hard floors nearly every day. He kept the counters and table sparkly clean, and once he even stayed up so late power cleaning the entire apartment that Schlatt returned home from work before he was even done with everything he wanted to get done. 

“Toby, buddy, what are you doing?” Schlatt asked with concern, and Toby looked over at him for just a brief moment before returning to scrubbing the inside of the fridge. “I’m almost done, sorry, I just need to finish this and then I’ll dust everything and be done.” Toby had told him, and Schlatt, having absolutely no idea what to do or say, just shut his mouth and left his son alone.   
This behavior went on for another week before Toby suddenly stopped and returned to his normal routine. When this happened, he returned to hopping onto Tommy’s streams like normal, and soon enough it was as if nothing had ever happened. Of course, Alex’s absence online was swiftly noted, but Tommy was quick to change the subject whenever the man came up, and Tubbo loved him for that. And then it happened. Schlatt found out about Tommy. About Twitch. And about Tubbo being semi-famous online.   
“Hey.” He’d said curtly, his tone telling Toby that he was probably in for it for some unknown reason. “Hello,” Toby replied. “How are you, sir?” Schlatt sighed and folded his hands in front of him on the table where he was seated. Uh oh. The folded hands were never a good sign. “Toby… I’m not mad at you. What’s Twitch?” Toby paled somewhat, and obviously Schlatt noticed. “Toby….” He said in a low tone, and Toby cracked. “It’s a streaming app; people can go live playing games or talking or stuff.” He said hurriedly, and Schlatt hummed.   
“Alright, and who’s ‘Tommy Innit’?”   
“He’s a friend of mine. We’re the same age, I promise.” Toby explained. Schlatt cocked his head to the side, just a bit, but it was noticeable. “Who told you about this?” Schlatt asked, now sounding more curious than angry since he didn’t seem to think that Twitch was some adult app like Toby had originally feared. “Um, Alex mentioned it a while ago, but I looked it up myself.” As soon as Toby said the name ‘Alex’, Schlatt froze. “You don’t need him.” He stated. Toby, confused, agreed out of fear. “No.” He said. “You don’t!” Schlatt said louder, and Toby flinched back. “I don’t need him!” Toby replied.   
Schlatt sighed and calmed down, groaning as he buried his head in his hands. “I’m sorry Toby.” He moaned tiredly, like the act of talking and sitting down was sucking the life out of him.Toby said nothing. He clenched his hands into fists. He’d heard Schlatt apologize for too many things. “I’m sorry I yelled.” “I’m sorry your friend’s a drug addict.” “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” It was getting on Toby’s nerves, if he was being completely honest with himself. Pretty much everything Schlatt did annoyed him nowadays. It was just a matter of time before Toby lost it, which, at this rate, he thought, would be rather soon.


	6. Phone calls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tubbo and Tommy talk on the phone about something potentially exciting, and Tubbo receives a call from another friend.

“Yeah, sometimes life comes and hits you like a bus. It sucks.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Tubbo said back, sighing. “Everything’s fine and then your friend gets arrested for drug use and your dad starts to go bonkers.” 

“Schlatt’s going off the deep end, eh?” Tommy asked in response, and Tubbo let out the breath of a chuckle. “Not totally. Not yet at least. Definitely getting there.” He said. The two had been on a call almost since Schlatt had left for work, and they had been on the phone for two hours now. It was 9 am for Tubbo now, and 2 pm for Tommy. He was going to start streaming soon, and the two were talking beforehand since Tubbo wasn’t planning on actually joining the stream this time. 

Ever since Schlatt had found out about Twitch and Tommy, Toby had been trying to stay out of Tommy’s streams in case Schlatt somehow managed to watch them. When he was on Tommy’s streams, he was a different person, laughing and screaming and occasionally cussing like he wouldn’t dare to do at home. But he was happy. 

“Well, Tubs,” Tommy then said. “I ‘spose I have to start the stream now. You sure you don’t wanna...?” 

“..Yeah, I’m sure, say hi to chat for me!” Tubbo replied, trying to sound chipper, when in fact, he was sad that he couldn’t talk to Tommy for longer. “I will, I will, Big Man.” Tommy replied, and after another moment of them saying their goodbyes, Tommy hung up. A couple minutes later,  _ “TommyInnit is live: TommyInnit went live!”  _ showed up at the top of Toby’s screen, and he tapped on it, watching Tommy’s ‘stream starting soon’ page while the close to 1,000 people in chat went wild with ‘TOMMYY’s and ‘POG’s. 

“What is up, chat?” Tommy said loudly as he switched to his face cam, and Tubbo smiled slightly. Almost immediately, everyone started asking where Tubbo was, and Tommy’s expression dropped for just a moment, but obviously people noticed, and obviously people started asking about that, as well. “Guys, guys, it’s fine, Tubbo’s fine, nothing bad happened. He’ll be back shortly, just busy with some stuff at the moment.” 

_ Tubbo: I’m alright guys!! Promise! :)  _

Tubbo typed out a message in chat, and everyone, Tommy now included, went ballistic again. “Tubs! You’re here, good on you!” He yelled, and Tubbo faintly heard another member of the Watson family (presumably Wilbur) yell at him to, “Shut the hell up, Tommy!” Tubbo chuckled as chat continued to go insane, now spamming, “BROTHERINNIT????”

This stream, Tommy had decided to make a Minecraft server with some sort of mod. He invited Phil, Wilbur, and Techno to join, of course, and he also sent an invite to some others, including a fellow named Jack Manifold, another Brit, and two others called Fundy and Karl Jacobs. 

The mod that they were using allowed them to morph into different mobs, and immediately, Wilbur and Techno started to team up on Tommy, disguising as peaceful mobs in order to sneak attack him. The stream was chaotic, with Tommy constantly being killed by his brothers, Phil actually trying to beat the game, Fundy and Jack messing around somewhere while Karl just ran around with Phil. 

They were online for almost two hours when Tommy decided to end his stream. It was still early for Tubbo, but for Tommy, it had to be getting to be later in the afternoon. After the stream was done, Tubbo received an oncoming call from Tommy. 

“Hi Tommy!” Tubbo exclaimed happily as he trotted out into his kitchen to make himself something to eat. “Good stream?” Tubbo then asked. “Apart from these dickheads killing me.” He said, and in the background, Tubbo could hear Wilbur and Techno chuckling. “Ah,” Tubbo said. “Hey, you can get back at them later though.” 

“True. Anyways, what are you up to now, Big T?” 

“I am making food, Tubbo.” Tommy said, and Tubbo nodded and agreed. “Me too.” He told him. “Very pog, Tubs.” Tommy said, and Tubbo grinned. Something about that nickname made him feel validated and loved, even though it was kind of stupid. 

The next good portion of the day was spent with Tubbo and Tommy talking seemingly endlessly to each other, but then Tommy had to go to eat dinner with his family. After he hung up, Toby did a few small chores, and then he stepped out onto his balcony simply because he felt like it. Autumn was growing close, and Toby was both dreading and looking forward to the new school year. 

Yet again, the day was gloomy, and although no rain fell from the clouds, it looked and sounded like it would start to downpour any minute. Toby occasionally heard lightning crackle, followed by a small boom of thunder, but there was no rain. Just chilly wind and dark skies, but the weather comforted Toby in some small way.

He closed his eyes as a rather strong gust of wind blew against his face, whipping his hair across his eyes, and Tubbo leaned forwards to lean against the railing, cupping his chin in his hands as he stared out over the city, cars and people looking like ants beneath the dark clouds. 

A few spare leaves whipped past Tubbo’s head, and he watched them fly away, blinking against the breeze that dried his eyes. He shivered and rubbed his arms to warm himself up, and he was about to go inside when his phone dinged. 

_ Tommy: Hey Tubs.  _

_ Tubbo: Tommy! _

_ Tommy: Wanna call? _

Tubbo replied with a yes as he returned inside, and he closed the door behind him before answering Tommy’s call. “Hello again, Tommy.” Tubbo said, and the smile was evident in his voice when Tommy shouted, “Tubbo!” Curious, Tubbo sat down on his couch and leaned forwards, looking out the window. 

“Dad says that we might be able to fly to New York to meet you in a few months if we start saving up!” Tubbo’s eyes widened with shock. He was speechless. “Oh my god,” he mumbled. “Oh my god! Tommy, that’s amazing!” 

“Of course it is, I thought of it!” Tommy replied, and Tubbo laughed, rocking back against the back of the couch while giggling like mad. He’d never been good at making new friends, but now he had the chance to meet his best friend in person. He’d never been more excited. 

Tommy started to say something else, but then Tubbo received another incoming call. It was an unknown number, so he answered it cautiously, saying nothing until the other person spoke. He expected it to be a telemarketer, but he never would have thought that it would be someone he knew. 

“Hello..? Toby?”

“Alex?!” Tubbo nearly shouted, shooting to his feet with disbelief. “Toby!” Alex replied, sighing with relief. “Thank god, I thought I got the wrong number for a moment.” Tubbo sat back down, remembering what his father had told him before the argument the other week. “Alex.. why are you calling me?” 

“Oh,” Alex sounded sad when he replied. “I was allowed to call someone, and you were the first person I thought of. I forgot all about J’.” He mumbled, and Toby hummed in response. “I won’t tell.” He said. “Thanks.” Alex replied. He sounded cagey, like when they went out together the last rainy day. Toby felt a little sad for him, but didn’t voice any concerns. As far as Toby was concerned, Alex did deserve to be where he was, but more than that, he deserved help. 

They just talked about small things, like how Alex was managing or how Toby was doing, for maybe five minutes before Alex had to go, and before he hung up, Tubbo told him, “I’ll tell Tommy hi for you.” And Alex said, “Thank you.” and then the call was ended. Tubbo called Tommy back. 

“Where the hell did you go?” Tommy asked sourly, and Tubbo bit his lip. “Sorry Tommy, I got a call from A— Quackity.” 

“Deadass?!”

“Deadass.” Tubbo replied, and he told Tommy about the conversation, remembering to add, “He says hi.” at the end of his sentence. Tommy was quiet for a moment after, then, he sighed. “I do feel bad for the poor bastard.” He said, and Tubbo agreed softly. There was a small moment of silence, and then the conversation grew happy again, but Tubbo couldn’t get Alex out of his mind. 

He was worried about his friend. He wondered when he’d get out of prison, and if he would be able to get another job, keep up his online work and the likes. Tommy could tell that Tubbo was distracted, but he was too, so he didn’t say anything about it. They were both thinking about Alex, and about meeting up. But Toby was also thinking about his dad. His father didn’t know how close Tommy and Tubbo really were. How would he react when Toby told him that Tommy might come to New York..?


	7. Hate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tubbo and Schlatt get into an argument.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning for this chapter: There’s a lot of yelling/arguing.

  
When Schlatt came home, it was obvious. The door slammed shut, and Tubbo was startled out of his sleep. He looked at the clock. It was only a little bit after 8:15 pm. “Toby!” Schlatt shouted, and Tubbo shot out of bed, struggling into a sweater. “Yes?” He asked as he walked out of his room, squinting against the sudden light of the rest of the apartment. “Where.. have you been?” Schlatt asked, and Tubbo came to the conclusion that he must be at least a little bit drunk, which was odd because it was a Wednesday.

“I’ve been home, in my room.” Tubbo said. Schlatt looked over at him, a look of hazy confusion on his face. “No. You— you have school. Don’t you?” Schlatt said, rubbing his temples. Maybe he’d gone straight from work to a bar, and so maybe he was starting to sober up, Tubbo didn’t know. “Not yet, I don’t start school for another couple weeks.” Tubbo told his father, who sighed like this was an inconvenience. 

“Is something the matter, dad?” Tubbo asked slowly, and Schlatt groaned. “Yes. I don’t see you anymore...” Oh. Tubbo didn’t know how to reply to that. If Schlatt wanted to see him more, Tubbo thought,  he should be the one to make more of an effort, not Tubbo. “Um,” Tubbo started, feeling very uncomfortable with the situation. “Maybe we could.. do something this weekend?” 

“No! I need to work!” Schlatt growled as he stumbled over to the couch. Tubbo wanted to roll his eyes. ‘I’m upset that I can’t see my son but I need to be at work 24/7.’ What planet was this man living on? Oh well, at least he could have Tommy. 

“Oh..” Schlatt started, because the universe wanted Tubbo to be depressed. “I don’t.. stop talking to that Tommy guy.” 

“What?!” Tubbo exploded, taking sick pleasure when Schlatt flinched. “No! No, you can’t do that to me!” Tubbo’s eyes were narrowed into murderous slits, and his hands were clenched into tight fists. How  _ dare _ he say this when he’d already cost Tubbo one of his only friendships. “What did you just say to me?” Schlatt asked in a venomous tone. Tubbo stomped one foot and tilted his chin up, much like a goat trying to assert its dominance. “You are not going to separate me from my best friend.” He stated, and now Schlatt stood up, towering above his son. 

“He’s a bad influence.” Oh. Oh now Tubbo was pissed. “A  bad influence?”  He challenged.  “A _bad influence?!_ How?! How is Tommy a bad influence? Is he like how Alex was a bad influence? How  _ you’re _ a bad influence?”

“I am a role model for people like you!” 

“People like me?! If it weren’t for me, this house would be a mess! Who cooks? Who cleans? Who does the laundry? Buys groceries? Gets the mail?  _ Me. _ Not you.” Tubbo screamed, not once faltering as he and his father exchanged angered yells. 

This was bound to happen eventually. Both Tubbo and Schlatt had to have known that, except Schlatt had been caught off guard, so he was quickly realizing that he was on the losing side of the argument. And what does the parent do when they realize they’re on the losing side...?

“Give me your phone,” Schlatt snarled. “You’re saying that  he’s _not_ a bad influence when no son of mine would act out like this.” Tubbo’s jaw dropped. He couldn’t believe this. “What? That’s all you’re going to say?!” He exclaimed, lip wobbling as tears brimmed in his eyes. “You’re gone all the time! I never see you! Let me have this, please, I need this!” 

“You don’t need anyone except for me, Toby!” Schlatt boomed, and Tubbo flinched back, glaring at his father through tears. His shoulders were shaking, and he was furious and afraid. Tubbo bit his lip, then, he wiped his eyes, stood up straight again, looked his father directly in the eyes and screamed, “I don’t need you! You abandoned me! You fucking abandoned me! You don’t love me, you just care about money and power!” 

At that, Schlatt stopped, and Tubbo, freely crying now, staggered forwards and pounded his fists on the older’s chest, not enough to hurt him, but enough to rattle his frame. “Just say you hate me so I know how you feel! Say you fucking hate me! Say it! Say it! Say it, please!” Tubbo sobbed, but Schlatt said nothing until Tubbo was done screaming, just crying and whimpering and sinking down onto his knees, head hung, mumbling, begging for his father to say something. 

“Toby, I don’t hate you—“ Schlatt started, but Tubbo wasn’t listening. “You’re lying,” he mumbled. “You’re lying. Lying, lying, lying...” And then he stood and ran off to his room, Schlatt shouting after him as he slammed and locked the door behind him. When he was in the safety of his room, Tubbo began sobbing all over again. He leaned against his door, gasping for air as tears and snot streamed down his face. 

His ears were ringing, and his hands were shaking. He couldn’t see, so he did the first thing that came to mind. “Hello?” Tommy asked groggily. “T— Tommy..” Tubbo whimpered, and Tommy was instantly awake. “Tubbo! What happened?” He asked fearfully. Tubbo, through sobs, snuck into his closet and burrowed between layers of clothes as he told Tommy what had happened. “I— I just— I don’t know what to do..” Tubbo then murmured, and Tommy hummed sadly. “Oh.. Tubbo... hey, it’ll be okay, okay?” He offered, and Tubbo nodded to himself, knowing that Tommy was right, but he still snapped, “It won’t! It won’t! You don’t know! You— you don’t know anything about me! I’m a stranger, Tommy, I’m a stranger...” 

“Hey,” Tommy said sternly. “Shut up, Tubbo, you’re no stranger.”

“I am—“

“You’re not, because I’m familiar with you. Your real name is Toby Schlatt, but you prefer Tubbo, and you’re sixteen. You have brown hair, brown eyes, and you love bees. You live in New York, and your father is a massive prick.” Tommy stated, and Tubbo opened his mouth to reply, but Tommy wasn’t done. “Your birthday is December 23, you like gloomy weather, and you don’t want an office job, correct?”

“Not ever...” Tubbo confirmed, his heart swelling with emotion at Tommy’s words. But still, the blond wasn’t done speaking. 

“You’re an only child, but you’ve said that you would have liked a sister or brother to care for because you love people, even though you’re an introvert. Correct?”

Tubbo was crying again. “I couldn’t have said it better.” He said. Tommy huffed. “Exactly. Now you go.”

“Huh?”

“You’re no stranger to me, so if I’m a stranger to you, you’re not going to be able to name five things about me.” Tommy said, and Tubbo shuffled in his seat, wiping his cheeks. “Y— your name is Tommy Watson, you have blond hair, blue eyes, two brothers, and you live with them and just your father because your mother left when you were a child. Right?”

“Right.”

“You’re outgoing and even though you argue with your family a lot, you love them.”

“Well,” Tommy said jokingly. “I wouldn’t say  exactly that.” 

“Oh, hush,” Tubbo laughed (laughed!). “You know it’s true.” 

“Whatever..”

“You have two dogs, Betty and Walter, you’re also sixteen, and your birthday is April 9.” Tubbo finished, and Tommy hummed approvingly. “See. We’re not strangers, Tubbo, we’re best friends.” He said, and Tubbo smiled softly, but his smile quickly dropped. “Tommy, I need to get out of here.” He whispered. “What do you mean?” Tommy asked in response. “I’m.. Tommy I...” Tubbo trailed off, not really knowing how to express what he had in mind. 

“If I— if I help pay, do you think you could fly here this week?”

“What? What do you—“

“Tommy, please, I need to get out of here.” 

There was a pause. “You mean like.. running away?” Tommy asked, and Tubbo’s pulse raced as he replied softly, “Yes. Help me run away, Tommy.” 


	8. Tickets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tubbo and Tommy hatch a plan so that Tubbo can finally escape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the wait, writer’s block is a bitch 😅

  
“Help you run away?” Tommy asked curiously, and Tubbo could sense the mischievous grin. “Yes..?” Tubbo replied. Tommy giggled maniacally. “I’m in. I’ll get dad and we’ll fly out there and bring you back to England—“

“Woah, woah. Sorry Tommy. I really appreciate it, but we need more of a plan than that.” Tubbo interrupted, and Tommy hummed, willing to listen to Tubbo. “Hit me, Big T.” He said. “Well,” Tubbo started. “I could actually probably forge a note in case the airport needs any parental consent for me to fly somewhere, luckily I already have a passport, and... I’ll figure out how to get money.” When he finished, Tommy was ‘ahh’ing thoughtfully, like Tubbo was the smartest person alive. 

“Very nice, Tubbo, very nice.” Tommy said, and Tubbo smiled softly, enjoying the praise after the heated argument that had taken place not even a half hour beforehand. “Thank you, Tommy, now— wait, what time is it for you?” 

“It’s almost two, no big deal.” 

“Tommy.. you should go to sleep.”

“No!” Tommy replied loudly and hurriedly. “No, I’m going to help you, Tubbo! Ah, shit..” Tommy them hissed, and Tubbo wondered what was going on before there was another voice. Techno. “Tommy, why are you awake at this hour?” He asked tiredly, deep voice gravelly with sleep. “I’m helping Tubbo run away.”

“Run— what? Why?” Techno sputtered. “He’s being abused and shit, Techno!” Tommy whined, and Tubbo heard Techno sit on Tommy’s bed with him, the springs creaking beneath his weight. “Tubbo?” He asked softly, and Tubbo assumed that Tommy now had his phone on speaker mode. “Yes?” He replied. 

“This true?” Techno asked, yawning. Tubbo bit his lip. “I ‘spose it’s partly true. I’m not in danger though.” Tubbo told him honestly, and Techno hummed. “I see.” He said. “Well?” Tommy prompted. “Are you gonna tell dad?” 

“Of course I am, Tom’. I’m also going to try to help here, but Tubbo’s a minor, so it would technically be kidnapping, which is illegal, and we don’t want dad, or me, to get arrested.” Techno said, and Tommy scoffed. “No shit!” He exclaimed. 

After that, Tubbo heard Schlatt go to bed, and he, Techno, and Tommy started talking plans. Tubbo did some digging, and found that police were less likely to pursue runaways that were nearing maturity, which he was, so Tubbo was sure that things would be fine. Techno seemed on board to help, but maybe that was just his love for chaos. And flying a teenager across an ocean without his father knowing was definitely bound to be chaotic. 

In the end, the two brothers concluded that they would talk to Phil in the morning, and Techno said that he would look for plane tickets in the meantime. Techno went back to sleep after that, and Tommy did too, but only after Tubbo sternly told him to. 

Tubbo then crawled out of the closet, knees and backside hurting from how he’d been sitting. He hissed in pain as he stood, feeling like someone had beat him with a bat for how painful his joints were. The house was quiet, and he felt defeated and exhausted for how much he’d cried and yelled earlier. Knowing that he should get to sleep but not feeling tired, Tubbo started packing. 

He found his passport easily enough (it was in his bedside drawer) and after that, he snuck out of his room to grab some paper and one of Schlatt’s work pens, then, he thought back to how he’d seen his father write and sign, and he was about to begin forging a note when his phone went off. 

_ Tommy: Note won’t work, there’s a bunch of papers and shit you’d have to do.  _

_ Tubbo: Then what do we do? _

_ Tommy: I’ll get Tech or dad to say he’s an uncle maybe.  _

_ Tubbo: Ok, I’ll write one anyways though, you never know, now go to sleep >:( _

And with that new information, Tubbo came to the conclusion that there was nothing else for him to do or grab at the moment, and so he finished the note, retreated to his room and plopped onto his bed. He fell asleep almost instantly. 

———

The next day, Tubbo was in a sour mood. Schlatt hadn’t even left him a note saying he was sorry for yelling, and Tubbo was upset that he couldn’t have spared one minute of his day to say something, even though he too had no intentions of apologizing. 

Eventually, he realized that it was pointless to be upset, and he FaceTimed Tommy. When the blond answered, he was in his kitchen, a sandwich raised halfway to his face with Wilbur riling up the dogs in the other room. Techno was sitting next to Tommy, scrolling through his phone, and Tubbo could hear Phil talking in the background. 

“Hi.” Tubbo said softly, and Techno looked over, brushing pink bangs out of his eyes while a mad grin rose on Tommy’s face. “Tubbo! How are you?” He asked, the volume of his voice attracting Wilbur, and soon enough, all three brothers were crowding around Tommy’s phone, and either Betty or Walter was dancing around nearby, claws clinking against the floor. 

“I’m good now.” Tubbo said, and Tommy nodded, setting his sandwich down. “Good, good.” He replied. “That Tubbo?” Phil asked from somewhere outside of what Tubbo could see, and then Tommy was handing the phone off. “Hi Phil!” Tubbo said, and Phil responded to his greeting happily, but there was a troubled look in his eyes. “Tommy said you wanted to run away?”

“What?!” Wilbur cut in, and Tubbo hissed through his teeth. “Yeah...” He mumbled. Phil nodded silently. “Well?” Tommy prompted. “We gonna help him?” Phil gave Tommy his phone back and walked around to stand next to his sons. “I want to, Tommy, but we can’t just kidnap him. Plane tickets are expensive and—“

“I’ll pay.” Tubbo interrupted, and everyone looked at him. He narrowed his eyes a little bit. “I will. I’ll help pay. I have money, and I need to get out of here. Please.” He practically begged . Phil sighed. “Okay, but we aren’t related, how—“ Tubbo once again cut him off. “My note! I forged a note last night!”

“Well,” Phil huffed while Tubbo grabbed the note, reading over what he’d written. “What about tickets?” 

“I got that taken care of,” Techno said. “There’s a flight that leaves at 12 am soon. All of us could go, but at least one should stay here.” Phil sighed with defeat, but Tubbo could tell that he didn’t fully mean the annoyance that carried through his tone. “Wilbur..” He said, accepting that his children would refuse to leave him alone about the topic if he said no (and he also wanted to get Tubbo away from his household, as he’d heard enough from Tommy). “Wilbur you’re going to stay here to watch after the house.” 

“What?” Wilbur whined. “I wanna go with you!”

“Oh, shut up!” Tommy grumbled, and Wilbur glared at him, swiping a hand out to cuff Tommy’s ear. “You bastard!” The teen shouted, turning around in his seat to swat at Wilbur, who easily deflected his attacks. “Boys—!” Phil warned, and Tommy reluctantly left Wilbur alone. Techno had remained silent for the most part, but now he was chuckling softly, watching Tommy and Wilbur bicker with amused interest. 

And after another hour of planning, they had a set plan. Phil, Techno and Tommy would take the 12 am flight, arrive at 8 am, get a hotel room, and then meet Tubbo at 10 am at Central Park. Then, they would go to the hotel room to wait, and book the next flight back to the UK. Tubbo thought it was perfect. 

———

Tubbo spent the entirety of the next day worrying and pacing around the apartment, chewing the insides of his cheeks until they were raw, and then he moved to chewing his fingernails. He’d slept until 10:30, and now it was approaching 2:00 pm. He couldn’t believe this was happening. He really couldn’t. Earlier, he’d actually called Tommy specifically to apologize to Phil for everything. Making him suddenly fly out here without thinking of Phil’s own life and the like, but Phil had dismissed his apologizes and stated, “I don’t mind, Tubbo, really, it’ll be fine, and I’ll be glad to have another son.” Tubbo had cried. 

After that, Tubbo began packing some of his belongings into a backpack. Clothes that he liked, his phone charger but not his phone (he’d get a new one later on), some framed pictures that he wanted to keep, his precious bee keychain, which he put in his pocket

Tubbo passed the next few hours by popping a melatonin and sprawling out on the couch to fall asleep, and once he was out, he was out. He only woke up again when his phone started ringing, and he jolted up, hair sticking to his forehead. “Wh— huh?” He groaned aloud to himself, squinting in the now darkness of his apartment. He picked up his phone, thinking it was Tommy, but it was just a spam risk call. Tubbo waited until it was done ringing, and then did a double take when he saw what time it was. 

1:56 am. He must have been more tired than he’d thought. “Damn..” He whispered, sitting up to look around. Every light was turned off, and light from the moon was shining in through the window. There was a little piece of paper tucked under where his elbow had been, and Tubbo picked it up. 

_ You were asleep, didn’t want to bother you. Goodnight Toob. _

Tubbo bit his lip so hard he tasted blood. He didn’t know what to do, so he just folded it up into a little square and tucked it into his pocket. Then, he checked his phone. Three missed texts and one call from Tommy. 

_ Tommy: Hey Big T, how you feeling? _

_ Tommy: Tubbo? _

He’d texted at 7:34 pm, and then later, around 11:30 pm:

_ Tommy: We’re leaving for the airport now, I’ll text you when we get to the big city.  _

Tubbo quickly replied with a thumbs up emoji and apologized for missing Tommy’s messages and then quietly moved to his bedroom. He checked to make sure everything that he needed was still where he’d put it, which it was, and then he came back out of his room. He walked to the kitchen, looking around for something, heart racing as he kept looking around him, making sure no one was watching him, although the only one that would be able to watch him was asleep. 

When he found his father’s wallet, it was where he’d thought and hoped it would be: On the counter, next to where he would charge his phone. He picked it up, opened it, and started rifling through the contents. If he got caught, he would be a dead man, but he needed to do this. A plane ticket from New York to England cost around $800, and Tubbo was determined to pay for his own. Besides, to Schlatt, big CEO that he was, $800 would probably go unnoticed for at least a day or two, and by then, Tubbo would be gone. 

Luckily, there was cash in here, and Tubbo stole a good $500 before he returned to his room, locking the door behind him and shoving the money in his bag. Then, he scavenged through every nook and cranny of his room, looking for spare cash that he’d put away over the years. Ultimately, he put together another $145 ($162 if you counted the amount of coins that he located) and Tubbo put it in his backpack as well. Only after that did he allow himself to try and fall asleep. 

———

When Tubbo was jarred out of sleep the next morning, it was because his phone was ringing. He picked it up and answered. “Tubbo!” Tommy shouted, and Phil was heard faintly telling him to be quiet. “Tubbo, we’re here!” Tommy said excitedly, and Tubbo smiled, excited, but also scared and nervous. He could now hear the bustle of the airport around Tommy, along with Phil and Techno arguing about where to go. “Awesome,” Tubbo said. “And hey, is it okay if I call you back? When you get to your hotel or something?” 

“Yeah, that’s fine.” Tommy replied, and then they ended the call. Tubbo checked the time. It was 8:10 am exactly. He got up. Tubbo walked over to his closet and looked through his clothes, feeling the need to change since he’d slept in his outfit from yesterday. Once he had his outfit, a cream turtleneck with slightly ripped blue jeans, Tubbo walked to the bathroom and took a shower. After, he got dressed, combed through his hair, grabbed his toothbrush and hair products and returned to his bedroom, stuffing those into his bag as well. 

Then, Tubbo slung the bag onto his shoulders and made sure he wouldn’t leave anything behind. When he was sure he was ready to go, Tubbo hesitated. Standing next to the door with his shoes halfway on, backpack on his shoulders, knowing that he was leaving his entire life behind. Tubbo ran back to his room and grabbed his phone. It had everything. Pictures from when he was a kid. From when things weren’t fucked up. He’d get them transferred to a new phone, but he couldn’t abandon them as much as he wanted to. 

Tubbo slid his phone into a pocket on his backpack and unlocked the door. 

Stepped out into the hallway, leaving his keys behind. 

Locked the door behind him. 

Closed the door. 

Walked down the hallway. Towards the stairs. Away from home. 

This wasn’t home. This was a prison. 

But Tubbo had escaped. 


	9. Flight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tubbo finally greets the Watsons, and they spend the next few hours in New York with another friend before flying away.

  
Tubbo flew down the stairs, clutching the straps of his backpack as the sound of his footsteps echoed through the stairwell. He was panting by the time he reached the ground floor, and when he left the stairwell, Tubbo jumped as one of his neighbors came out of nowhere to greet him.

“Hello, Toby.” The man said, and Tubbo bit the inside of his cheek. “Hi.” He replied curtly. “How are you doing?” The man asked, and Tubbo felt confused. No one ever asked how he was doing. It was always how Schlatt was doing. “I— I’m good.” He stammered. The man nodded. He was older, and Tubbo had talked to him a few times. He was nice. “Good, good. I heard some shouting the other night, everything alright?”

“Yes, sir, everything’s alright,” Tubbo replied politely. “I’m sorry, but if you’ll excuse me...” 

“Got somewhere to be?”

Tubbo nodded, blushing slightly, and the neighbor bade him good day and went on his way. Tubbo bolted out of the building, turning right on the sidewalk and racing towards the park. He’d taken his time in the apartment, and now it was almost ten. He didn’t want to keep Tommy waiting. 

It took no less than five minutes for Tubbo to arrive at the park, and when he did, he immediately saw them. Saw him. Him...

“Tommy!” Tubbo screamed, and, as if he wasn’t completely winded, he dropped his backpack and ran towards Tommy, feet tearing up little chunks of grass. Tommy was running to him as well, and Tubbo only now noticed how tall he was. Towering over him, but Tubbo wasn’t scared. This was his best friend. Tears beading in his eyes, Tubbo launched himself at Tommy, clinging onto him and throwing them both to the ground. 

Tubbo buried his face in Tommy’s chest, holding onto him for dear life. He had a firm grip on Tubbo’s back, and he smelled like strawberries. “Tubs— get off, I can’t breathe.” Tommy gasped, and Tubbo quickly back off and stood, watching Tommy brush himself off like he was a deer stuck in headlights. There was a moment of silence, and then Tubbo started crying. 

“T— Tommy, oh my god!” He cried out, and Tommy hugged him again, resting his chin on Tubbo’s head, rubbing his back. “It’s good to see you, Tubbo.” Tommy said into Tubbo’s hair, and Tubbo nodded, not trusting himself to speak. 

After a couple minutes of just standing there in the embrace and getting used to the fact that they were finally meeting in real life, Phil broke up the moment. “I’ll carry your backpack, Tubbo.” He said, and Tubbo pulled away from Tommy to thank him. 

Then, Tommy wrapped an arm around Tubbo’s shoulder and got him in a headlock to aggressively ruffle his hair. “So this is the big city, eh?” He huffed, and Tubbo laughed, worming his way out of Tommy’s grasp, his hair sticking up in multiple places. “It sure is,” he replied. “I’d show you my apartment but I left my keys inside.” 

“Ah, it’s fine.” Tommy said, and then turned to his father. “Hotel?”

“Hotel.” Phil said back. Tommy pumped his hand in excitement and turned back to Tubbo. “The hotel is fucking great.” He said, and Tubbo nodded in agreement, smile on his lips. 

Phil lead them back to the apartment while Tommy and Tubbo talked. Tommy was in the midst of telling him about a new song that Wilbur was writing when Tubbo got a phone call, so Phil handed him his phone from the backpack and Tubbo looked at the caller I.D. God, he was so glad that he didn’t leave his phone behind. 

“Hey!” Alex chirped, and Tubbo replied with a small but excited, “Hi.” He looked over at Tommy and mouthed, “Quackity” and Tommy grinned devilishly. “Are you at home?” Alex asked, and Tubbo hissed through his teeth. “Ah, no, I’m not, I’m actually—“ 

“Big Q!” Tommy leaned in to shout, and Alex gasped. “Holy shit, you two—?” 

“Yes,” Tubbo interrupted. “Us two. Um, we’re kind of in a bad place to talk right now, can I call you back?” 

“Yeah, totally, uh, I actually was released on license, so maybe we could do something sometime... like old times..?” 

“Oh, awesome! And definitely, but... it would have to be today... before tonight.”

“Why? What’s going on?”

“I’m uh.. I’m moving to England.” 

“Woah,” Alex whistled. “That’s a big move, and J’s okay with this?”

“Oh— no. He doesn’t— he doesn’t know. I’m running away.” Tubbo explained under his breath, and Alex’s breath hitched. “Ah, well, I won’t tell if you won’t, and good luck, by the way.”

“Thanks.” Tubbo said back.

“Welcome, now I’ll leave you alone. Have a good flight, and if you need anything, text or call this number or just dm me on Twitter.” Alex said, and Tubbo nodded to himself. “I will, thank you so much, Alex.” He whispered, and then he hung up. “Who was that?” Phil asked.

“Alex. Er— Quackity.” Tubbo replied, and Phil looked back at him, surprised. “Really? You two know each other personally?” Tubbo’s heart sunk as he thought back to the argument, and he nodded. “Um, yeah, I do. He used to work for my father.” Tubbo told him, and Phil hummed thoughtfully. “Used to, you say. What happened?”

“Ah—! Dad! Is that the hotel? Look Tubbo, we’re almost there, you’ll get to meet Techno!” Tommy cut in, saving Tubbo from having to reply, and Tubbo wanted to hug him, but he could wait. Thankfully, Phil didn’t push, and they approached the building. Tubbo had never been to this hotel before, but it looked nice. And he was excited to meet Tommy‘a brother. 

“What did Quackity say?” Tommy then asked, and Tubbo looked up at him while he spoke. “He’s free at the moment so he was wondering if I wanted to go somewhere with him.” 

“We could do that.” Phil said, and both Tubbo and Tommy perked up. “Really? Would that be okay?” Tommy asked, and Phil happily nodded. “Of course! I’d love to meet him too, boys.” And so it was settled. Tubbo texted Quackity. 

_ Tubbo: Hey, it’s Tubbo, are you free today? _

_ Alex: Yeah, give me a moment but yes.  _

_ Tubbo: How do you feel about meeting us for lunch?  _

_ Alex: Us? _

_ Tubbo: Tommy, me, Phil, probably Techno.  _

_ Alex: Damn, you got almost the entire sleepy bois inc with you, but yeah, I’m down.  _

_ Tubbo: Great, I’ll text you again soon :) _

When they got into the hotel, Phil lead them up to their room, which was on floor two. Tommy begged to open the door, and Phil let him, handing him the keycard. Tommy swiped it, somehow getting it wrong the first two times, but then the light turned green and the door unlocked. “We’re back, Tech’.” Phil said as he entered before the two teens. 

When Tubbo walked into the room, Techno was laying back on a bed, watching a cooking show while typing on a computer. “Heyo.” He said when he saw the boys, and Tommy jumped at him. “Whatcha writing~?” He asked as Techno held his computer away from the blond. “Homework.” Techno stated shortly. “Boo, that’s boring!” Tommy whined, and Techno nudged him away with his foot. “It’s not boring when it’s worth more than half of my grade.”

“Boo!”

“Would you rather I fail English?” Techno shot back, and Tommy scoffed before getting off of Techno’s bed. “Hi Techno!” Tubbo chirped, and Techno finally seemed to notice the new boy. “Hey Tubbo.” He said with a small smile and a wave. 

Techno then went back to his homework, and Tubbo watched Phil set his backpack gently on the other bed. “It’s fine if we share a bed, right Tubs?” Tommy wondered, and Tubbo nodded. “Of course.” He replied. Tommy shot him a thumbs up and jumped onto their bed, narrowly avoiding crushing Tubbo’s pack. “What the hell do you have on tv, Tech’?” Tommy asked, and Techno groaned. “It’s a cooking show, idiot, nothing else was on.” 

While the brothers continued to bicker, Tubbo turned to Phil. “When do you think we could meet Quackity?” Phil hummed and thought for a moment. “Pretty soon,” he then told Tubbo. “What were you thinking?”

“Lunch? I might know a good place.” Tubbo said, and Phil nodded. “Sounds great, whenever you’re ready, we can head out.” 

“Okay. Hey, Techno, do you wanna come to lunch with us and Quackity?” Tubbo questioned, and Techno looked up from his computer. “You know Quackity?” He asked in reply, and Tubbo nodded, flushing slightly. “Cool, and yeah, I’d love to, just let me finish this sentence...” 

It took less than five minutes for everyone to get ready, and in that time, Tubbo texted Quackity and told him to meet them at a somewhat nearby seafood place. Tubbo took with him his phone and the money that he’d shoved in his bag, and he also got a taxi for them, although Phil payed for the ride. 

They got there after Quackity, and when Tubbo saw him, his heart did an excited backflip. His hair was longer, he had some dark eye bags, and he had a pierced ear, but he looked good. Better than before, even though he still looked like the act of being in public made him nervous. “Alex!” Tubbo cried out, and he pulled ahead of the Watsons to run at Quackity. It had been too long since he’d seen him, and he was happy. “Toby!” Quackity replied, waiting until Tubbo was in range to pull him into a rough hug, much like the first time they’d met, and Tubbo laughed. “How’ve you been?”

“I’ve been good. I’ve been good,” Quackity said, and then added in a whisper. “I finally got help. I think J’ will be happy to know that I got a good therapist.” Tubbo squeezed Quackity tighter and then let go. “I think he’ll be very happy. And I am too. I’m proud of you.” Tubbo told him, and Quackity smiled, coughing to hide a small sound as he obviously teared up. “Thank you, Tubbo. I really appreciate it..” 

“Any time. I love you, Big Q.” Tubbo replied, and Quackity let out a curt laugh. “Ha! I love you too, kiddo, now come on, introduce me.” He said, gesturing at Tommy, Phil, and Techno, and Tubbo grinned. “Of course,” he dropped into exaggerated faux politeness. “Where the hell are my manners? Oh! I’m such a horrible person!” Tubbo wailed, and Quackity burst into laughter, ruffling Tubbo’s hair. Tubbo was happy that he could make him laugh. 

After Phil and Quackity shook hands and got more acquainted than they had been online, they entered the restaurant and got a booth near a big window. Tubbo and Tommy sat next to each other, Quackity sat across from Tubbo, both of them having the window seats, while Phil sat next to Quackity and Techno squeezed in next to Tommy. 

“You’re doing good, Big Q?” Tommy asked, and Quackity nodded, looking down and somehow knowing that Tommy knew what he’d been going through. “I’m good. Getting better.” He said, and when Phil inquired about what he was talking about, Tommy hopped in to change the subject again, but Quackity said that it was fine, and he told Techno and Phil, who were, thankfully, very understanding and accepting. 

While they waited for their food, everyone talked. Quackity gushed about how he was secretly relieved that he got fired, and he said that he planned on going to college to become a lawyer. He also made several jokes about what his time in jail had been like, flicking his piercing and laughing while saying that nobody thought he’d actually give himself a piercing, and the look on his peers’ faces had been worth the near infection that he’d gotten. 

While the adults talked, Tommy and Tubbo zoned them out, chatting to each other, with Tommy reassuring Tubbo about how everything would be okay and how he was going to love England, and Tubbo assuring Tommy that he wasn’t too nervous. 

When their food arrived, everyone more or less ate in silence, except for when they would find another topic to joke or talk about, and more than half of the time, Quackity, Tommy and Phil were talking Minecraft. Tubbo listened with interest, and then Phil turned his attention to Tubbo. “Hey Tubbo, would you want to stream too?” He asked. Tubbo gasped excitedly. “Yes!” He replied, then calmed himself and rubbed the back of his neck. “I uh— yes. I want that.” He said, his face somewhat red. Phil chuckled. “I thought so. When we get back home, I’ll help buy you a setup, okay?” 

“Would you?!”

“Of course!”

“Oh! Thank you so much, Phil! I really appreciate it!” Tubbo said eagerly, and Phil grinned, returning to his food. “You’re welcome, Tubbo, it’ll be my pleasure.” Tubbo, practically buzzing with excitement, looked over at Tommy, who had a grin on his face. “You wanna know something, Tubbo?” Quackity then asked, and Tubbo looked up at him. “Hm?” 

“I can’t wait until I can get the notification that says ‘Tubbo is live’.” Quackity said, and Tubbo looked down, not knowing what to say. So much was happening all at once, but he knew that he’d be able to take things at his own pace, and for that, he was grateful. 

———

After that, Tubbo got them another taxi back to the hotel, and Quackity went on his own way, presumably back to his own apartment. It was almost 1:00 pm now, and Tubbo felt surprisingly tired out. 

He collapsed onto the bed when he entered the room, and he closed his eyes, listening to Techno boot up his computer again. Tubbo felt Tommy sit next to him, but the blond didn’t say anything, sensing that Tubbo just wanted to sleep. 

———

“Tubbo. Tubbo, wake up.” Someone was nudging his shoulder. Schlatt? Why was his father... “Tubbo, come on, we need to leave.” Phil. Not Schlatt. “Huh? Where are we going?” 

“To get dinner, come on bud.” 

“What time is it..?”

“Almost seven.” 

“Oh shit! Alright, sorry..” Tubbo exclaimed as he got up, rubbing his eyes. Tommy chuckled. “You really passed out, huh?” He teased, and Tubbo punched his arm playfully. 

While they walked down to the hotel’s dining area, Tubbo became lost in thought. Schlatt would be getting off of work soon, if he hadn’t already, and then he would be coming home. He’d see Tubbo’s keys on the counter where he’d left them, along with a note that said not to worry, he was safe, and maybe he’d call sometime. Tubbo hoped he wouldn’t text. Tubbo hoped he wouldn’t call. Tubbo hoped he wouldn’t be sad. 

Distracted while sitting at a table, waiting for Phil and Techno to return with things from the buffet, Tubbo chewed his lip until it bled, and Tommy reached over to place his hand on Tubbo’s arm. “It’s gonna be okay, Tubbo.” He whispered, and Tubbo nodded absentmindedly. “...I know.”

The rest of the night and next morning passed by in a blur. Eating, going back to their room, sleeping, waking up in the morning and seeing the twelve texts and four missed calls from Schlatt and ignoring them, taking a bus to the airport, getting tickets, paying Phil back for the ticket, and getting on the plane. 

It was a long plane ride. Eight hours. But worth it. Tubbo lost service almost as soon as they took off, and he stared out of the window, watching the ground shrink beneath him. Soon, they were over the sea, and Tommy had fallen asleep, his head lolling onto Tubbo’s shoulder. He let him use him as a pillow. A new life was waiting for him. Away from his controlling father. Tubbo could be free. 

Tubbo could be Tubbo. And he’d have his best friend with him until the very end. 


	10. Stings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Schlatt comes home to a very unwelcome realization.

  
It was another long day at work, and Schlatt mulled around in his office before he left, talking to two of his associates, a blond who preferred to be called Dream and a brunet named George, but eventually they left together because it was getting fairly late, and Schlatt decided to go home too. He wanted to catch Toby before he went to sleep.

Schlatt took a taxi back to the apartment, and walked silently to the elevator when he reached his destination. The ride up felt longer than usual, and when Schlatt got to his floor, something felt off. He walked down the hallway and unlocked the apartment. It was dark. All of the lights were off, and it didn’t look like Toby’s shoes were where they usually were. 

Schlatt pulled his jacket off and flipped on a light. “Toby?” He called out. No response. He removed his shoes and started to walk towards his son’s room, but a glint from the counter caught his gaze. The other pair of keys...

Worried now, Schlatt sped over to the counter and picked up the keys, noticing a piece of paper with them. 

_ Don’t worry. I’m safe. I’m with friends. I just had to leave. I’ll call some time, I promise, I just couldn’t stay here anymore. I’m sorry. _

_ \- T.  _

Schlatt’s heart dropped, and he dropped the note, then bolted to Toby’s room. He threw open the door, praying that he’d see the brunet inside, but there was nothing besides the neatly made bed, milky light from the moon pooling in through the window. “Toby!” Schlatt yelled, panic seeping into his voice. He ran back out into the rest of the apartment, looking behind every piece of furniture and into every room, but there was no sign of Toby. 

Schlatt returned to Toby’s room. He slumped onto his bed and pulled open the beside table drawer, feeling a wave of despair when he saw that his passport was missing, as was his phone and backpack. Schlatt pulled out his own phone. 

_ Schlatt: Toby? _

_ Schlatt: Toby where did you go? _

_ Schlatt: Please text me back. _

Schlatt then tried to call him, but to no avail. The phone just kept on ringing until the automated voice told him to leave a message. “Toby,” he choked out. “Toby please call me, text me, anything. Where are you? Where did you go?” He then hung up, ending the message, and felt a tear fall down his cheek, which he hastily rubbed off. 

He sat there for a long time, periodically checking his phone and trying to contact Toby again. At around 1:00 am, he figured that it was useless, and he slid down to the floor, on his knees, wrapping his arms around himself. Schlatt hung his head, ashamed of himself. 

_ “Daddy, look! I drew you!” Toby, no more than four, holding up a piece of paper, proudly grinning as he showed it off. Swipes of unrealistic color made up a drawing of Schlatt, and he felt his heart swell with pride. “It’s beautiful.” He said as he picked up his son, then, he went and put it on the fridge with with a magnet, and Toby, clinging to his neck, had laughed proudly.  _

Schlatt still had that drawing. It was tucked away somewhere safe. He’d felt like a good father then, but now, he’d driven his only child to run away, and he felt horrible. He knew that Toby loved bees, even though Schlatt himself hated them, and he knew that Toby like music. There were many things he knew about his son, but he obviously didn’t know enough. 

_ “I don’t need you! You abandoned me! You fucking abandoned me! You don’t love me, you just care about money and power!”  _

Why didn’t he see it then? Why didn’t he apologize? Was he seriously too caught up with his job to notice and care about the needs of his son? The answer, Schlatt knew. Knew and hated. Because yes, yes he had. He’d just been after power, and he’d gotten it, but it had cost him his child. 

Schlatt squeezed his eyes shut, balling his hands into fists. It stung. It stung worse than a bee sting. Kneeling on the floor of his son’s room, Schlatt cried, and with agony, he called out, “Toby, where are you?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, but that’s it :,] Thank you all so much for reading!
> 
> This fic was kind of a rollercoaster, but I enjoyed writing it, and I deeply appreciate all of the kudos and comments ^^ 
> 
> I might make a sequel revolving around Schlatt and Quackity, but what do you guys think? Do y’all want the story of a healing arc or nah? Let me know in the comments. 
> 
> And once again, thank you all! ❤️❤️❤️


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